Who's to Blame?
by TayBayNBB
Summary: When the Timmerman brothers die in a car accident, Alex blames himself. When the band don't talk to him, he does the unthinkable... Disclaimer: I do not own the Naked Brothers Band. 10 review or no new chapter.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Ignorance

Nat Wolff sat next to his younger brother Alex.

"It's not your fault, Alex" Nat told Alex. "The Timmerman Brothers could have taken any cab".

"It is my fault Nat. If I hadn't given them that cab and me and Qaasim took it, none of this would have happened" Alex cried

"Alex, it could have happened to anyone. Stop blaming yourself" Nat soothed his younger brother. Ever since that horrible day, last week, Alex had been blaming himself for the death of the Timmerman brothers. He and Qaasim had been heading to band practise, only Alex gave the cab he hailed to the Timmerman brothers, who were off on a date. Alex would have thrown himself in front of a car, just to get the Timmerman Brothers to date someone besides the beautiful Jessie.

"But Nat, if I hadn't been so selfish then maybe it wouldn't have happened. If I had just let them date Jessie, none of this would have ever happened" Alex yelled, jumping off the couch, running to their room and slamming the door.

"I get it Alex. You feel guilty for giving them the cab ,don't you?" Nat followed his brother.

"No. You don't get it Nat. I mean, have you ever killed anyone" Alex sobbed, letting the tears fall freely. Nat hugged his brother, sorry that this had all happened.

"Hey, you want a glass of milk?" Nat asked, hoping that a glass of milk would cheer his depressed brother up.

"Thanks" Alex said, sniffling.

In the kitchen, Nat stood next to phone. Finally, he picked it up and dialled Jessies number.

"Jessie?" he whispered.

"Hey Nat. What's wrong?" Jessie's surprised voice replied.

"Jess, you have got to get over here. I've never seen Alex so depressed" he whispered.

"I'm on my way" Jessie replied, and the next thing Nat heard was the dial tone. He poured the glass of milk and hurried back to his brother.

"Here" he said, and handed the glass to his brother.

"Nat?" Alex asked

"Yeah?" Nat replied, wrapped in his thoughts.

"Why is everyone so afraid of me?" Alex enquired.

"Huh?" the question threw Nat off. He hadn't expected this.

"The band. Why are they so afraid of me?"

"I guess…I guess they just want to give you time to get over the shock" Nat racked his brain for a suitable answer and that was the best he could come up with.

DING-DONG. Nat was relieved. He jumped up and hurried to answer the door.

"Hey Jessie" he said, letting her in.

"Where is he?" she asked immediately. She followed him to the bedroom Nat and Alex shared.

"Oh, Hi Jessie, I wasn't expecting you" Alex stuttered, having trouble finding the right words to say. He didn't really want to see her right now. Little did he know what Nat was doing whilst he was talking to Jessie.

"Qaasim, can you come over?" Nat said into the telephone kept in his fathers room.

"Ahh, sorry Nat. Me and Cooper are kind of busy doing stuff" Qaasim replied.

"Please come over for Alex's sake. I've never, in all my 14 years on this Earth seen a guy look as depressed as Alex" Nat begged.

"Sorry Nat. Maybe some other time" Qaasim said, and with that, put down the phone.

The next number Nat dialled was Rosalina. She was a girl so she was bound to understand.

"Hello. Is Rosalina home?" Nat said, when her father answered.

"No, I'm afraid not, Nat. I think she said she went out with David" Rosalina's father replied.

So Nat dialled David's number and it was answered on the first ring.

"David? Is Rosalina there?" Nat demanded.

"Uh, yes but why?" David replied.

"Can you guys come over please? For Alex. In all my years on this Earth I have never seen a guy look as depressed as Alex" Nat said, in a rush

"Sorry Nat. Me and Rosalina are going to the movies" David said, before hanging up.

As much as it stung, knowing that David, of all people, was out on a date with Rosalina, Nat forced himself to keep going, for Alex's sake.

He dialled his last hope, Thomas. The phone rang out.

"Ahh, Thomas, its Nat. Umm, can you please ring me back as soon as you can? It's about Alex. He's kind of depressed after what happened to the Timmerman Brothers. Ahh, I better go. Ring me back please. Bye" was the message Nat left on the machine. Even though he hadn't yet reached Thomas, Nat was feeling pretty confident that his last hope was not even worth relying on. He left the room and entered the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of soda. He poured himself a glass.

"You don't get, Jessie, you don't understand. Just leave me alone" the sound of his brothers aggravated voice surprised Nat, nearly making him drop his glass. Jessie came out of the room, near tears.

"Sorry Jess" Nat said, apologising for Alex's behaviour. Jessie flopped down on the couch.

"It's okay Nat" she replied, even though Nat knew by the sound of her voice that it wasn't okay.

"Hey Alex" Nat murmured to his brothers. Alex lay on the bad, facedown trembling.

"Why doesn't anyone get it?" Alex's tearful voice cried.

"You probably feel the same way I did when I found out that Rosalina and David are going out on a date tonight. Do you feel like you've lost a special part of you? A part that can't be replaced all that easily?" Nat asked, trying to help his brother.

"No. I feel like it's my fault. None of the band will talk to me. Jessie hates me. If I hadn't given up that cab, the Timmerman Brothers would be here right now" Alex replied.

"Not necessarily. They could have been hit by a truck. It doesn't make a difference. They're gone. By the way, the band have no reason to ignore you. Qaasim's just as much to blame here" Nat went on.

"But they weren't hit by a truck. They were in a cab accident. It's all my fault. And Qaasim's" Alex yelled, pulling a blanket over his head. Nat sighed. It was no use. The best thing to do would be just leave him alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Alex awoke to sun streaming through his window. In the living room, he vaguely heard the sound of his dad, Nat and Jessie talking. On the floor beside him, there was a fresh glass of milk. At first, he couldn't remember what happened last night but then it came to him. He had yelled at Jessie and Nat.

"But Dad…see Alex last night…crazy…band won't even talk..him…can we do?" Alex heard Nat talking but he was missing words. Alex got up and walked into the lounge room. Nat abruptly stopped talking, whilst Alex walked past.

"Good morning son" Sonny Wolff said, cheerfully.

"Morning Dad. Morning Nat. Morning Jessie" he mumbled, heading into the bathroom. He emerged a few moments later and headed back to his room. Before laying back down, he skulled the milk and set the empty glass on the floor.

"Hey, Alex?" a familiar female voice broke into his thoughts.

"Ugh" he replied.

"I'm really sorry if I upset you yesterday" Jessie said.

"Shut up. Just shut up. I wish everyone would just leave me alone. It's my fault and no-one, not even you Jessie, will ever understand how I'm feeling right now" Alex screamed, his head swirling. He knew that he had been messed up since the accident, but the band had no reason to hate. They were still talking to Qaasim and he had also agreed to give up the cab. Why did this have to happen to him?

"Alex, this is isn't your fault. You can't keep pinning the blame on yourself " Jessie said, soothingly.

"But it is Jess. No-one will ever understand that" Alex sobbed.

"Alex, accidents happen. If you accidentally broke Nat's arm, would you hate yourself?" Jessie asked.

"He wouldn't be dead, so of course I wouldn't hate myself. Can you please just leave me alone?" Alex said.

"No Alex. You need to understand something-" Jessie started to say.

"No Jessie. You need to understand something. I should have never given up that cab. Then none of this would have happened" Alex shrieked, rolling out of bed and storming out the front door. That day was a cold and rainy day, so Alex ran to the one place he knew would be deserted. The skate park.

Just as he had thought, the place was deserted. He sat on a ramp and let himself get lost in his own thoughts. He thought about Qaasim selfishness. He thought about Nat and Jessie and their helpfulness. He thought about Juanita and how she didn't know about the Timmerman brothers. He thought about his skateboard and how much he missed skating. He hadn't been in over a week and he really missed it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Normal

"Jessie, what did you say to him?" Nat yelled. His brother had just run out the door. It was pouring down rain and Nat had no idea where Alex would be. Places ran through his head but none of those places seemed like the place Alex would go. He thought of his friends. Juanita, Rosalina, Thomas, Cooper, Qaasim, David. Nat knew that Alex wouldn't feel like talking to them.

"I told him to tell me why he felt responsible for the boys' death" Jessie whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek.

"JESSIE" Nat yelled, frustrated that Jessie would do something that stupid.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what else I could say," Jessie cried.

"I'm going to go find him" Nat said, grabbing his jacket, and storming out the front door, furious at Jessie. How could she have made her brother do this?

He ran to the deli. No Alex. He ran to the skate park. Juanita was there, sitting on a ramp, but still Alex wasn't there.

"Juanita" he called. The girl looked up at Nat.

"Where's Alex?" Nat asked.

"I don't know. He was here a while ago but then he left. He was kind of upset about something. I can't imagine what though" she said thoughtfully.

"Thanks" Nat said, running down the sidewalk.

Alex sat on a bench at the train station. He wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't even sure where he wanted to go. But then it clicked. All Alex wanted was to go home. He stood up and walked away from the station. He wandered his way down the streets. That's when he saw Nat.

"Alex!" Nat yelled. "Where have you been?".

"Oh, you know, places" alex said, discontentedly.

"No, I don't know Alex. I've been worried sick" Nat yelled at his brother, angrily.

"Oh, come on, you big sook. Let's just go home" Alex said, striding down the sidewalk. He wasn't feeling so upset anymore. He was, more or less, angry at himself. He felt he allowed the Timmerman Brothers to die.

"Alex! You can't just go home and pretend everything's normal" Nat shouted, hurrying to catch his little brother.

"Oh, come on, Nat. You know as well as I do that nothing will ever be normal again, but hey, there's no use standing around, just waiting for everything to be normal again. Just forget about it. You do what you want but I'm going home" Alex exploded, taking off down the sidewalk. He felt better, like all his anger had been washed away. He knew he had no right to yell at Nat like that, but that anger he had bottled up inside of him was like a million blows to the head. Secretly, it waskilling him inside. But no-one knew that. They all thought he was guilty, but he wasn't. He was angry.

Nat stood, fixed to the spot. Tears stung his eyes. Why? Why did he have to do that? People stared at him, but he didn't care. He let the tears roll down his cheeks. But then he realised. Nat wasn't to blame. He had tried to help, but Alex was behond needing help. Alex needed an intervention. Something. Something to make him realise that none of this was his fault. But first, he needed to see the band. He hoped that the band would help. Otherwise, there would be nothing else he could do. There was no way to know how long Alex would stay in that state.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Alex walked into his home. His dad was sitting on the couch.

"Al, we need to talk" his father said.

"No, we don't, Dad. What is there to say. The Timmerman brothers are dead. Gone. As in forever. Nothing you or Nat or Jessie say will bring them back. Who even cares anymore. I'm over it" Alex said, hiding his anger from his father. But Sonny knew that Alex did care.

"Alex, I don't want to ever hear you say that again. I know that you care. I also know that the boys aren't coming back but that's no reason to stay so angry at yourself" Sonny said, walking over to his younger son.

"I know that, Dad but why did this have to happen to me? It's so unfair. The band won't even talk to me and I keep feeling like it's my fault. It makes me angry how this had to happen to just me. I mean, Qaasim told me to give up the cab but the band still talks to him. I might as well just quit. I'll be a normal 11 year old kid" Alex cried, burying his head into his Dad's chest.

"Oh, come on Al. Don't you think that's a bit drastic? Nat's your brother. He'll always stick by you, no matter what. The band still cares about you. They probably just want you to have some space. It'll all be okay, son. You've always got me, Juanita, Jessie and Nat" Sonny said, hugging Alex.

"But thats the thing Dad. I'm not even sure I have Nat anymore. Let alone Jessie or Juanita" Alex cried, letting his tears fall freely.

"Why's that, son?" his dad asked.

"I ran into Nat before and I yelled some things at him. Now, I kind of sort of, regret it" Alex admitted.

"Alex, I'm sure that if you just apologise to Nat, he'll forgive you" Sonny said.

"How do you know that, Dad?" Alex asked.

"Because I'm a dad. Your Uncle Miles and I had some pretty mean bust ups ourselves and we always ended the best of friends in the end" Sonny said.

"Dad,you're an old man. By the way, in case you hadn't noticed, Uncle Miles stole your woman. You don't even talk to him anymore" Alex poiunted out, bluntly.

"That may be so, but Al, you and Nat aren't like that. You'd never steal Rosalina off Nat, would you?" Sonny asked.

"Umm, Dad. Nat and Rosalina aren't even dating. By the way, Rosalina's 5 years older than me. Besides, I like Juanita. Why would I want Rosie?" Alex said, crinkling his nose. Sonny laughed and gave his son a soft noogie.

Nat ran down the street, heading for David's house. He knocked on the front door 's mother answered.

"Why, hello Nat" she said.

"Hi. Umm, is David home?" Nat asked.

"Of course-" David's mother started to reply but it was too late. Nat had already started to run up the stairs. He barged into David's room and found David and Rosalina making out on David's bed.

"Oh... umm....I'll call you later David" Nat croaked, near tears. How could it be that the girl he loved so dearly would make out with a boy Nat thought was his best friend?

"Nat,wait" David called.

"Nat... Nat!" David called after his best friend. David followed him. They were halfway down the stairs when David gripped Nat's arm.

"What do you want?" Nat shouted.

"Oh, come on Nat-" David started to say.

"Come on nothing. I have nothing to say to you. You knew, David, you knew. How could you do this to me?" Nat snarled.

"Oh, whatever Nat. We all know you are in love with Rosie but, guess what? Did you ever think that Rosalina may not be in love with you?" David yelled.

"That was mean, David. Just forget it. I thought you were my best friend. But, David, best friends don't do that" Nat said, tears falling down his cheek.

"What, Nat? What don't best friends do?" David exploded.

Nat shook his head at David and continued down the stairs. Rosalina stood at the top of the stairs, staring at the scene below. How could she have not known how deeply Nat cared for her?

"That was mean, David. I'm going home. How could you do something so mean to your best friend?" Rosalina narrowed her eyes at David and walked down the stairs.

"Rosie, wait-" David started to say.

"Save it" Rosalina replied. She grabbed her jacket and walked out the front door. Nat was ahead of her.

"Nat" she called. Nat looked up at her. Rosalina felt her heart break in two when she saw Nat's tearstained face. Rosalina ran up to Nat. She grabbed his arm. Nat pulled away roughly and started to sprint. There was no way Rosalina would catch up to him when he was running that fast. So she whipped her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and sent him a text message.

_Nat, we need to talk_

She dropped the phone into her pocket and headed towards her house. When she reached her house, she heard.

**Like a picket fence and a rose garden**

**I'll just keep on dreaming**

**But it's cool cause we're just friends**

She pulled out her cell phone and read the message.

_i'm sorry Rosie. maybe another day_

She text back

_Nat, it's really important_

_how much did you hear?_

_Nat, i think the whole n/bourhood heard_

_sorry Rosie. i cant talk to you today_

_its OK Nat. i understand_

She didn't recieve a message back.

Nat decided to just go home. He could work on Alex's intervention another day.

"Hey Alex" Nat said, as he walked through the loungeroom to get to the bedroom he and Alex shared. Alex followed him.

"Nat, I wanted to apologise for earlier" Alex said.  
"It's fine Al" Nat replied. That was when Alex noticed Nat's tearstained face.

"Oh, God, Nat. What happened?" Alex asked.

"David- he- Rosalina-why?" Nat sobbed.

"Nat, what happened?" Alex repeated.

"David stole her" Nat howled. Alex hugged his brother.

"It'll be okay, Nat" Alex soothed, although he was still angry at himself. He couldn't stand seeing his brother in such bad shape.

DING-DONG.

"I'll get it" Alex called.

"I'll be right back" Alex said to Nat, who sat on his bed.

Alex opened the door. Rosalina stood in front of him. Alex was so surprised he actually slammed the door in her face. But then the door bell rang again.

"What do you want?" Alex said coldly. He couldn't bring himslef to forgive Rosalina for hurting his brother so badly.

"Is Nat home?" she asked, nervously.

"Oh, just go home Rosalina. No-one in this family wants to talk to you right now" Alex slammed the door in her face and latched it before walking back to his and Nat's room. Nat was laying on his bed, not alseep, but just staring into space.

"Why did David do it, Al?" Nat asked.

"I don't know did the Timmerman brothers die, Nat?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, Al. I guess there's a lot of questions out there without answers, huh?" Nat said. The two brothers lay there in silence. They had no idea what to say to each other.


End file.
